I have no problem with a statement like "I don't know where to go in Seville" but for me adding a question mark to the the end of a sentence ending in a "to infinitve" is a no-no. So I would always prefer to ask "How do I get started?" and not "How to get started?" The latter seems to come from non-native learners of english getting confused when they hear "Where d'y go?" as "Where to go?"
Is it just me who whinces when seeing this kind of auxiliary-less object question? It crops up in electronics manuals and sub-literate web pages all the time. Non?
2006-10-04 10:03:36 · 11 answers · asked by stephen p 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
I see where you are going with this, but I thought you were going to tell me where to go in London......
2006-10-04 10:11:06 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, I gotta say, I agree with you. This kind of sentences are quite often misused as questions. I would call them just statements. They're good for titles or sub-titles. Like when you want to divide things into categories. An example is "Dos and Dont's".
So, when talking about a city..... you could have 'London' as a general title; and after a little intro, the sub categories: 'Where to go', 'What to do', 'How to go...' etc.
Bear in mind that with these categories you try to say: (I'm advising/suggesting/telling you) where to go/what to do, etc. Thus, you are NOT supposed to use a question mark. Definitely not.
Well, hope this helps a bit.
2006-10-04 10:25:45 · answer #2 · answered by Luisho 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It certainly is an odd construction, and I blame journalism for it.
There is also the case of statements such as "Where to go in London." No question mark. And also the construction, "Getting there from London," a travel tip list.
I think these are called sentence fragments...very informal, colloquial. Titles of books and stories and movies and so forth use these constructions also.
Not a big grammar problem - most people do in fact use these forms just for titles, list headings, rarely in speech. Although I have heard things like, "Blah blah blah. What to do?" Always in informal conversation, of course.
And what to do about "To be or not to be.....?" Isn't English wonderful?
2006-10-04 10:23:49 · answer #3 · answered by sonyack 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is, as you say, grammatically suspect. English has the same rule as Spanish, namely that you cannot have a sentence without a finite verb. But one of the most famous sentences in the English language, from Shakespeare's "Hamlet" offends that rule. "To be or not to be? That is the question." That rhetorical style has been much imitated. In the same speech there is yet another example of a sentence made of infinitives: "To sleep, perchance to dream." Shakespeare is held up to us as writing excellent prose, yet he clearly did not see the need for finite verbs as you and I do. Does that mean that it is a losing battle?
2006-10-04 10:22:06 · answer #4 · answered by Doethineb 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
both the suffering and the artwork that his Father had given him to do became complete. because the sacrifices of the previous had had no result on the hearts of God's human beings our lord god had despatched His son. contained in the words of the myth he taught the owner of the vineyard stated ,"honestly they are going to recognize my son." yet as contained in the myth they hadn't respected him, they were eco-friendly with envy of his authority and killed him. our lord god is conscious the top from the start, as we see in Scripture, yet Jesus willingly went by this dreadful ordeal for our sakes. Jesus has blotted out our sins by skill of his sacrifice if we've self belief in him and in our lord god. So Jesus' earthly artwork as a mortal complete and he received eternal life and is on the right hand of his Father in heaven. As he instructed his disciples he will go back contained in the dignity of his Father at a time when we do not assume him. he will boost the useless and there'll be judgement. After that Jesus is to envision the dominion for his Father because the Scriptures let us know. What we could do intervening time is to be honest and obedient and look ahead to his coming and skim our Bibles so as that we understand better of his Father's plan and purpose with the earth.
2016-11-26 02:52:24 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To be or not to be that IS the question = is a finite verb thus a sentence. Yes, odd English what else is new?
2006-10-04 17:00:40 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
What the hell are you going on about?
I thought you were someone having trouble with English that couldn't write properly then I realized you were trying to seem smart. LOL.
2006-10-04 10:26:27 · answer #7 · answered by WHATS UP! 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Never mind the blah, blah! It's a statement, the only thing that's wrong with it is the ? at the end.
2006-10-05 03:27:30 · answer #8 · answered by cymry3jones 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree with miserable. There are more things in life to worry about. Stop being so snotty.
2006-10-05 00:51:39 · answer #9 · answered by Thia 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You're absolutely right but I wouldn't expect the habit to stop any time soon.
2006-10-04 10:12:17 · answer #10 · answered by Maria 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋